


A Stranger by the Same Name

by sg_wonderland



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 10:10:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/951851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sg_wonderland/pseuds/sg_wonderland
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack finds himself drawn to the stranger from another time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Stranger by the Same Name

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler: Continuum

Colonel Jack O’Neill wasn’t quite sure of what had possessed him. Asking the Air Force for the addresses where they’d sent the strangers. He actually only wanted to know where one of them had gone but he had enough wits about him to ask about all three, to throw suspicion off his true mission. A quick, but painful, lie to Sara and he was on a flight to Seattle to find this Daniel Jackson.

He rented a car. Because it wasn’t official business, he opted for a convertible since he didn’t have much opportunity to enjoy his need for speed. Being married with a son in college, he entertained a brief fear that he was falling into the old mid-life-crisis thing.

Lying to his wife, renting a five-speed convertible, looking up a strange man.

Clearly, something was wrong with him.

*

He sat outside the high-rise for nearly two hours before he got up the nerve to leave the car. He didn’t know what to expect and, frankly, wasn’t even sure why he was there. The only explanation he could come up with was that there was just something about the way the man said his name.

Jack.

It was memories of that voice that compelled him, drove him into the elevator, up to the eighth floor, taking a deep breath outside number four before knocking on the door.

It took him awhile to answer; Jack realized he’d forgotten the man’s disability. The loss of a leg had to hit him hard.

The expression on the other man’s face ran the gamut of shock, disbelief, a shot of joy before quickly settling into something Jack interpreted as suspicion. Maybe seeing Jack again had hit him even harder.

“What the hell do you want?” Yeah, suspicion.

“I just wanted to…”

Daniel interrupted. “Sam? Mitchell? Is something wrong with them?”

Not just teammates then, Jack surmised at the genuine emotion, the strain of fear in his voice. “No, as far as I know, your buddies are fine. I just….honestly, I don’t know why I’m here.”

Daniel stepped aside reluctantly. “Something tells me this isn’t a conversation we need to have in the hallway.” Jack followed him into the apartment, glancing around with interest. There wasn’t, that he could see, a single thing that could be described as personal. 

Jack mentally shook his head; of course there wasn’t anything personal here. The guy had been left, literally, with the clothes on his back and nothing else. Yeah, the Air Force had given him a comfortable allowance that would have allowed him to indulge but as far as Jack could see, the only place where he’d indulged had been the bookstore.

“You want something to drink? Coffee, soda?”

“Got anything stronger?” Jack settled down on the leather sofa.

Daniel laughed sharply. “Guinness or scotch?”

“Beer’ll be fine.”

Jack noticed Daniel settled for a soda. “Not drinking?” He asked casually.

“Trying to quit. I find drinking alone is surprisingly depressing.”

“And yet you have both beer and scotch.” Jack took a long, icy drink.

“Maybe I’m a masochist.” He sat in the chair facing Jack.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for someone who enjoyed pain.”

“You know what? This is just too weird for me so just say what you want to and leave.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said…”

“And let me guess? You’ve convinced yourself that I’m either some kind of a nut and, by the way, you wouldn’t be the first. Or that I found out stuff about you and used it to manipulate you and the situation, hoping I could use that as leverage to talk you into letting us go.” Daniel took a sip. “How’m I doing?”

“Frighteningly accurate, actually.”

“So how do you want to play this? You ask me questions and I answer them or just throw out what I know about you. Or the other you, as the case might be.”

“Surprise me.” Jack caught a quick flash of pain on his face; maybe this was something the other Jack had said to him.

“Fine. Your name is Jonathan Matthew O’Neill; the Matthew is courtesy of your father. Your mother’s name is Margaret, she makes a killer devil’s food cake for me every year on my birthday and she can’t convince your dad to move to Florida. You were born in Chicago, raised in Minnesota, spent summers at your grandfather’s fishing cabin. Your son’s name was…is Charlie, named for your grandfather, and, by the way, I’m glad he’s alive and well. Your wife is Sara. You like Ford trucks, indigestible chili and hockey. You think Mary Steenburgen is hot and you have little time for academics, unless it profits you in some way. Flying is all you ever wanted to do and you think the Earth looks best from 30,000 feet up.”

The beer bottle was frozen in mid-rise. “Damn.” He swore softly.

“You had a bad mission in Iraq and it scarred you, emotionally and physically, for life. You won’t miss an episode of The Simpsons, you’re addicted to Fruit Loops, chocolate Pop-Tarts and Doritos, although not at the same time. You like your steaks charred and always turn in when you see the ‘fresh doughnuts’ sign lit up at Krispy Kreme.” Daniel suddenly frowned. “Screw this.” He headed for the kitchen, returning with an unopened bottle of Chivas Regal and a glass.

Jack gazed at the bottle. “Feel like sharing?”

Daniel winced and broke the seal on the bottle. “Get your own glass.”

Jack hunted through painfully empty cabinets and found a glass. Picking up the bottle, he poured himself a generous measure before sitting to face Daniel again. “I need…I need to ask you a question.”

“Yes.” Daniel relied quietly.

“Yes, I can ask you a question?”

“No, the answer to your question is yes.”

“How could you possibly know what I was going to ask you?” Daniel quirked a brow at him. “Yeah, right, I keep forgetting. So…well, this is awkward in the worst way.”

“Only for you. Me, I’m kind of enjoying it. However, you might want to stop right there.”

“Because?”

“Because I have every reason to believe the Air Force has this place bugged. So, the whole ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ thing applies.”

“Doesn’t count, technically, we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and another…”

“Stranger by the same name?” Daniel suggested helpfully.

“Yeah, so if you and that other Jack were…are…”

“Lovers. You can say the word out loud, I’m not easily offended.”

“Can I ask…how?” Jack felt what he realized might me a blush wash across his face. “I don’t mean that how! You know what I mean.”

“Actually, I do, I just wanted to see if…never mind. Jack and I have known each other for eleven years. We’ve been through things that no one else ever has, that no one should ever have to go through. We were always closer than we should have been. I know Jack’s been cautioned more than once about being too close to his team, about not having a proper sense of command. It seemed pretty inevitable.”

“I would have thought me and Carter?”

“Oh, please, we’ve been down this road before.” Daniel refilled his glass.

“You mean, I did? Or, he did?”

“Yes, he did and it didn’t exactly work out.”

“So I slept with you and I slept with Carter. What about the other guy? Mitchell?”

Daniel’s smile was slow and sly. “Mitchell always said he was too good for you.”

Jack appeared to consider that. “Okay, here’s the thing. I’ve never been attracted to a man in my life.”

Daniel smirked. “That’s because you’d never met me.”

Jack strangled on his scotch. “No problem with your ego, I see.”

“I’m important in Jack’s life,” his eyes got a faraway look. “At least, I used to be.”

“Yeah, well, if you ever get back there, I’m sure you two can kiss and make up.”

Daniel poured another glass and knocked it straight back. “Not likely. Jack got killed right before we came through.”

Jack stared, stunned. “You didn’t say…”

Daniel’s emotions flared. “Because it’s none of your business! Or the Air Force or any one else.”

Jack saw it then, the anger, the grief, the misery on the other man’s face. “All this, for me?”

“Don’t kid yourself. Not you. My Jack.” Daniel struggled to his feet. “This is why I don’t drink, especially in the middle of the day.” He kept his face turned away, his voice raw and shaky. “You got what you came for, now you can leave.”

“I…” Jack stood helplessly. “I don’t know why I came.”

“Because you felt it. The…spark or whatever the hell you want to call it.”

“Yeah,” Jack realized there was little need to lie at this point; if the Air Force really did have this apartment bugged, they’d already gotten an earful. “I almost convinced myself that I’d imagined it.” He fought for something to say, some way to comfort the man. “You can’t just live the rest of your life like this, Daniel. You have to get out, reconnect with people.”

Daniel swung around, his face furious. “My life! My God, that’s a joke! I have no life. I gave everything, everything, for the Stargate program. And your people won’t listen. They won’t listen! And then they took away everything I have left. They won’t let me see Sam or Mitchell.”

He banged both hands in frustration on the back of the sofa. “Ba’al will invade. He’ll come here and he’ll blow this planet to bits. Whether I’m holed up here in this apartment or drowning my sorrows at the local bar isn’t going to matter. I’m still going to die while the assholes in charge of your government stick their heads in the sand! The fact that we’re all going to die together is no comfort whatsoever. So go back to your nice life, spend what time you can with your wife and son. I’m through trying.”

“Daniel.” Jack grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you touch me!” With a shudder, Daniel jerked away. “Leave me alone. Leave me the hell alone!”

“If you’re right and the bad guy’s coming…”

“I wish we were wrong. But we’re not and I know it. But no one will listen to me. I don’t know why I even try.”

A long chill nestled along Jack’s spine. “Daniel.”

“Leave me alone. I’m not climbing out on another balcony, if that’s what you think.”

“Another?” Jack was sick as he realized how close to the truth he’d just come. “Daniel.” His voice was anguished. “Let me help you, please.”

“Unless you can bring Jack back to life, unless you can get me and Sam and Mitchell through the gate, unless you can make all of this,” he frantically waved his hands, “go away, then there’s absolutely nothing you can do for me. So thanks for the kind offer. Go home, Jack.” His voice was weary. “If you really want to do something for me, then do this. Go home to Sara and Charlie. Make the most of the time you have left.” He urged gently. “Lock the door on your way out, will you?” Daniel softly shut the bedroom door behind him.

Jack took two steps before he realized he’d had every intention of following Daniel into that bedroom and finishing the argument. Standing there staring at the ominously closed door, he wondered how many times some other Jack had done that.

And how much of that other Jack was hidden somewhere inside him.

He was still wondering as he closed the apartment door behind him.


End file.
